The Department of Home Affairs has replaced the Global Talent visa with a new, invitation-only program prioritising acceptance of migrants with various high-level, tech-related skills.
The National Innovation visa (NIV) commenced accepting expressions of interests (EOIs) from 7 December, after which the department will then select several interested applicants to fully apply for the NIV.
The department indicated that the program will first prioritise accepting “recipients of internationally prestigious awards” including Nobel Prize laureates, Fields Medal recipients, Booker Prize winners or Olympic gold medallists; followed by “exceptionally talented people in their field who are endorsed by a relevant Australian state, territory or federal government agency”.
However, migrants with skills related to technology, including advanced robotics, quantum computing and clean energy, will also be considered favourably.
According to the department’s website, other areas include:
- critical technologies,
- renewables and low emission technologies,
- health,
- agri-food and ag-tech,
- resources,
- defence capabilities and space,
- education,
- financial services and fin-tech, and
- infrastructure and transport.
